


Clawkind

by Bay



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-01
Updated: 2012-09-01
Packaged: 2017-11-13 09:05:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/501802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bay/pseuds/Bay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose and Mutie are reunited, only for the kitty to run off sometimes and the Seer of Light being introduced to Nepeta.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clawkind

**Author's Note:**

> For [this prompt](http://homesmut.dreamwidth.org/38154.html?thread=39041034#cmt39041034) from Homesmut and the cottoncandy_bingo prompt, _pets._ Very handwavy post-canon future fic, so yeah.
> 
> Slight mention over the [S]Act 6 Intermission 3 update, so some spoilers there.

Upon entering the new planet she and her friends created after the game had ended, Rose predicted the deceased would arise back from the ashes. She wasn’t surprised when her prediction came true, but she didn’t expect to be together with her mutant kitty, Mutie. He had been waiting behind the front door of her house, which she thought was a sweet gesture. Delighted to have him back, Rose scooped the kitty up and cradled him, feeling his purrs vibrating against her chest.  
  
A month passed by since their reunion and Rose always enjoyed spending time with her kitty. She let him play with her scarf many times, despite all the tear marks he left on it. She often watched Mutie amuse himself over one of her balls of yarn and she either just smiled or had him catch the string while she swung it in front of his face. Almost every night the kitty snuggled beside her in bed, Rose stroking his back as the two began to fall asleep. To Rose, everything seemed perfect.  
  
Well, almost. If she had to be honest with herself, there was one habit of Mutie’s that bothered her. Rose noticed lately her kitty would sneak out of the house sometimes. Luckily it wasn’t for too long, mostly for an hour or two and then he would return as if nothing happened. Still, she wondered where he could‘ve been; was it somewhere safe? He was just a kitty, after all.  
  
Out of concern, one day she decided to follow Mutie after he went away once more. She would hide behind a tree or bush as she watched him strolling on the sidewalk, careful to not step on sticks. It was almost half an hour until Rose reached the forest that she had never been in before. Some sunlight flooded outside even though there were many trees spread out. Rose noticed several flowers that smelled nice blooming on the ground. At one point she heard a stream not far from her and passed there shortly after. She was reminded of the woods that surrounded her old home; she mused the new planet had intended her living quarters to be just as similar.   
  
Mutie stopped by outside a cave and someone else—a troll—popped out to meet him. The feature that struck Rose the most was that her face, horns, and hat were very similar to a cat’s. Thinking it over, she recognized her from the dream bubbles she, Dave, and the surviving trolls passed through during their three year travel through space. Didn’t Karkat mentioned to her about a cat-like troll in his group?  _Nepeta_ , Rose recalled the name now. She was the one that had a great interest in matchmaking the other trolls through the four quadrants. Besides those things, Rose couldn’t help but noticed the green— _fur?_ — jacket the troll had on was too large for her.   
  
“Oh, it’s you again!” she greeted Mutie, distracting Rose from her thoughts. “I guess you can’t enough of the milk I offurred you. Stay here, I’ll be right back.”  
  
Within seconds, the female troll came back with a bowl of milk, setting it down on the ground. Mutie mewed in great joy and immediately dive in to drink it. Taking it as her cue to come out of hiding, Rose approached them in slow steps.  
  
“Hello,” Rose said when she stopped, trying not to sound slightly nervous. Catching her attention, the troll lifted her head and smiled. Mutie looked at Rose and made a cheerful sound, as if happy to see her—she assumed that was the case.  
  
“Hi, there!” The troll paused and stared at her, as if trying to remember something. Her smile soon returned. “You must be Rose! It’s great to finally meet you in purrson.”  
  
That didn’t surprise Rose, considering the trolls were the ones that created her original planet in the first place. “I recognize you to be one of the trolls. Nepeta, correct?”  
  
“Yes!” All of a sudden Nepeta tackle-pounced Rose and pinned her on the ground. “What brings you here?”   
  
Still slightly startled, Rose’s heartbeat quickened. “My cat had been sneaking out of my house lately, so I followed him to find out where he has been going off to.” As soon as the troll jumped from Rose, she stood up to dust off the dirt from her clothes. Rose stole a quick glance at Mutie, catching him licking his paw.  
  
“Oh, so this is your kitty? Sorry, I thought he was a stray.”  
  
“You have nothing to worry about. I’m glad someone else was watching over him to make sure he didn’t cause any chaos.”  
  
“That’s great to hear.” Nepeta said, grinning like a cat. “He’s such a cutie. Where you found him?”  
  
“At my front yard. Actually, back at my original planet I first discovered him at a laboratory connected to another cat of mine’s grave.”  
  
“Ah, I see. It’s great, though, that you now have…um, does he have a name?”  
  
“Vodka Mutini, or Mutie if you prefer the shortened version.”  
  
A giggle escaped from Nepeta. “The first name sounds silly, but Mutie is purrfect!”  
  
“Happy to hear you approved that name,” Rose said, smiling a little. “So he comes here sometimes?”  
  
Nodding, Nepeta said, “Usually I let him in my cave and I either give him milk or some meat.” She stopped to glance at Mutie, a pleased expression crossing her features. “It’s amazing your kitty has four eyes. Purhaps it had something to do with the lab you mentioned earlier.”   
  
Rose gave a sad smile. Considering Mutie was a mutant clone of Jaspers, Nepeta wasn’t far from the truth. “I have no doubt that’s the end result.”  
  
Silence stretched out between the two until the troll asked, “Um, this may sound strange, but is it alright if I come over at your house sometime?”  
  
Breath caught in her throat, Rose considered Nepeta’s suggestion. This wasn’t the first time she let a troll visit her house; Karkat and Kanaya dropped by several times already, but she was always cautious when it came to guests. Then again, Mutie seemed to like Nepeta a lot, which made things less daunting.  
  
“It would be my pleasure,” Rose then said, a small smile pulled at the corners of her lips.  
  
“Great!” Nepeta clapped her hands together. “Is tomorrow night pawsible for you?”  
  
“Tomorrow night is fine. Do you need directions to my house?” She bended down a little to pick Mutie up, who didn’t protest.  
  
“No need. I can smell from very fur away, so I’ll be able to pick up your scent very easily. Speaking of which, you smell like someone that enjoys telling stories.”  
  
Rose flinched, stunned she was able to figure out her interest in creative writing just by smelling. “I admit, I am already amazed.”   
  
Nepeta grinned, her teeth flashing. “All right then, see you tomorrow!  
  
After Rose waved Nepeta goodbye, she and Mutie started to head back home. While walking she thought the troll was friendly enough and that her next meeting with Nepeta might be enjoyable.  
  
+++  
  
The next night Nepeta indeed came to Rose’s house with no problem. As they were talking, Rose drank tea while her guest played a tug of war with Mutie by using the scarf. Their conversation varied from how they lived back in their respective planets, their guardians, and their interests. There were times Rose chuckled whenever Nepeta said something funny or sweet.  
  
“From the few conversations I had with Jaspers, he’s a very brave and smart kitty who loves you very much,” Nepeta said when the two were now talking about Jaspers. She still tried to pull the scarf from Mutie.  
  
“He is and I still miss him a lot. It’s for the best, though.” Rose believed Jaspers had returned as a cat once more, but hadn’t seen him yet. Maybe he came back alive remembering not being her guide anymore, hence why he didn’t come back to her. Either way, she hoped he was happy where he was now.  
  
“I’m sure you made the right decision.” Nepeta tossed Rose a grin. “You remember when I had mistaken you for Jaspers?”  
  
Not expecting the troll to ask that, Rose tensed. She took a moment to jog her memory of that incident. “Yes, I do now. I thought you wanted to bother me while I was preoccupied, but you only wanted to communicate with my cat. I feel I must apologize for that even though it’s three years late.”  
  
“No need to apawlogize, it’s understandable you were annoyed.” Changing the subject, Nepeta then said, “I think there’s a reason your kitty keeps visiting me.”  
  
Rose chuckled. “It must be because you’re a feline like him and you two can relate to one another.”  
  
“That’s pawrt of it, but I was thinking something else.”  
  
When Nepeta didn’t follow up immediately to what she had said, Rose raised an eyebrow in skepticism. “By that, you mean…”  
  
“It seems that Mutie is playing matchmaker!”  
  
That caused Rose to spit out her tea, luckily from the opposite direction of Mutie and Nepeta. “Beg your pardon?”  
  
“If you’re thinking mateship, it’s nothing like that.” Nepeta was able to finally tug the scarf off from Mutie, who mewed sadly at her. “You kitty most likely thought we would make great friends.”  
  
“Ah right, the trolls’ version of romance is different from ours,” Rose said, already understanding where the troll was getting at. At that instant, Mutie approached her and cuddled on her lap. Rose patted his forehead.  
  
“I believe it is too early for us to be moirails, but that doesn’t mean we can still hang out like this. Besides, aren’t you and Kanaya mateships now?”  
  
Before Rose could respond she felt herself blush. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone she and Kanaya had been spending a lot of time together. She still remembered back at the meteor Kanaya showed her affection by holding her hand as they watched the stars burning brightly in front of them. Afterward they slowly got to know one another on a more personal level, which seemed to be the best and logic thing to do. Whether those feelings she had for Kanaya were romantic or not Rose tried to figure out, though she wasn’t ruling out the possibility of them becoming like that eventually.   
  
“I’m not sure I would consider us that, but I’m content the way we are now,” Rose said hurriedly. “Back on topic Mutie wanting us to be friends isn’t farfetched.” She found it reasonable her kitty thought she would get along with someone like Nepeta, so she forgave him for sneaking out from time to time. Overall this evening had been a very delightful one for her; the cat troll had that peaceful and playful quality about her that Rose found very charming.  
  
“I’m assuming you’re all fur that?” Nepeta asked, her eyes flickering with optimism.  
  
Rose gave a single nod. “I would like that very much.”  
  
“Yay!”  
  
Without warning Nepeta looped her arms around Rose’s waist for a tight embrace—Mutie had woken up and jumped off before being crushed from the hug. Feeling her face softened, Rose returned the hug back and smiled. She was glad Mutie had introduced her to Nepeta and that she gained a new friend.


End file.
